Spooky Boyfriend #5

from Rambo Goes to Idaho


I was writing bumper stickers         

for Colonel Troutman 
to sell on the internet.
I was trying 
not to go to hell.
I was trying to make a legacy.
The other one was
SOFTEN THE OVEN 
written in red.
It was ambiguous and I liked it.
This won’t be like
one of those horror movies
where we open the door
and everything’s normal.
My other car was an astral plane.
I would exchange Reiki therapy
for peanut butter,
and I would cook pizzas over lava.
I took practical too far,
and I came back single,
wearing tropical clothing.
Tom Brokaw from South Dakota
had no kind words for Rambo.
Everyone was saying salary 
and in undergrad.         
I wasn’t gonna get up
and just get high
or get up and feel like just going out
and doing something stupid.       
Dinner made and the dishes done, 
 
there is no weird,         
there’s time to enjoy fireworks,
and the closest thing we have to magic is music.



Originally from Nebraska, Scott Abels currently lives and teaches at a spooky place called the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Links to his poems can be found at http://scottabels.blogspot.com.